Foundry firm Chamberlin is hiring 36 new engineering workers and investing £5 million in a move that will see it making millions of parts for new cars. The Walsall company is opening up a brand new machining shop that it is equipping with the most modern computer-controlled kit as it targets major new work from overseas. Around 90 per cent of the castings made at the group’s 126-year-old Chamberlin & Hill…

The moulding line at SKF Cooper’s foundry facility in King’s Lynn has been in place for over 40 years and was in need of significant improvements. Following investment, the original green sand, jolt squeeze moulding line has been replaced with an Omega Sinto automatic carousel moulding line that includes a Spartan 300 series mixer and sand reclamation plant. The original line had reached the end of its…

• UK engine manufacturing stable in 2018, down just -0.3% to 2.7 million units. • Production for overseas plants reaches seven-year high with exports taking almost two-thirds of output. • UK demand falls in line with British car manufacturing as regulatory and model changes fuel decline Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said, These impressive export figures show the strong appetite worldwide for the…

A West Bromwich foundry has set its sights on increasing sales to £2m over the next 18 months after appointing a new managing director. Gina Steventon has taken the helm at Aluminium Products Ltd (ALPRO), a specialist in sand and gravity die casting which has produced decorative lighting for Canary Wharf, retro seating for Selfridges, and large tooling for automotive and aerospace clients. She has replaced…

The uncertainty brought caused by the Brexit vote may have some negative repercussions to the car manufacturing industry in the United Kingdom. Recent reports claim that German automaker BMW is planning on moving the production of new electric Minis from the UK to Germany. BMW announced last year that it is developing a battery-powered Mini car and it is slated to hit the market in 2019. Moreover, BMW said…

Toyota says its plant investment is "a huge part of preparing for the long-term future" Toyota is to invest £240m in upgrading its UK factory that makes the Auris and Avensis models. The Japanese carmaker's investment in the Burnaston plant near Derby will allow production of vehicles using its new global manufacturing system. The factory employs about 2,500 people, while another 590 work at Toyota's engine…

Coventry car maker announces plans for new Discovery mode Land Rover has announced it will produce its all-new Discovery model in two different countries - at both its traditional Solihull home and the firm’s newest plant in Slovakia. Bosses at the Coventry car maker say the twin-track production approach is being adopted due to strong demand for the new vehicle ahead of its official launch next year.…

The latest Census of the UK Foundry and Casting Industry shows that there has been an 11% increase in sales revenue in the last two years, together with a continuing rise in productivity and high levels of capacity utilisation. Improvements in efficiency and value added services have taken place, with more than half the firms reporting investments in capital equipment within the past two years and over 70%…

United Cast Bar, a leading foundry producing up to 45,000 tonnes of continuous cast iron bar annually, is benefitting from the adoption of Firm Frequency Response (FFR), a revenue generating scheme that forms part of the National Grid’s broad DSR (Demand-Side Response) portfolio. Facilitated by Endeco Technologies a leading aggregator of smart grid optimisation solutions, the move is already yielding a…

Nuneaton-based NPL Technologies, which has been providing prototype and production tooling services to the foundry industry for more than 40 years, said it had recently reported a 30 per cent increase in business from UK-based foundries. NPL projects manager Jeff Land, who heads the company's foundry tooling operations, said he attributed the growth to the booming British market for smaller, niche foundries…